April 25th, 2012
As April rolls into May, teachers and students alike experience a little foretaste of purgatory. The school year is nearly over, but finals haven’t started yet. Classes are covering their last topics of the school year, and the students glaze out the windows daydreaming about the vacation that is only weeks away. As a little tide- you- over till summer getaway, I took my eight graders on a daytrip to a couple of local stops. Both have been well covered here but I thought I’d offer fresh insights. The class is a group from a private school in a neighboring town, and as such, represents a new audience for the establishments in question. Our first stop was the Brook Hill, American Freedom Museum. As always, the exhibits are so much more than one expects to find at a local private school. It chronicles the history of the American military through all the nation’s conflicts. There are rare weapons, flags, even vehicles on display throughout the facility. The hall of presidents contains documents and signatures of every American executive. Anyone planning a visit to our area, hosting out of town guests, or compiling a list of summer activities should definitely keep the museum in mind.
Our second event for the day was a place old and dear to my heart, the Historical Aviation Memorial Museum. But first we sat down for lunch at the Skyline Café adjacent to the museum. We had planned this lunch ahead of time and the young men in particular were eagerly awaiting the huge ten inch hamburgers the restaurant serves. With as much food as our crew ordered, all that cooking took a little while, but it proved well worth the wait.
The Aviation Museum is filled with all manner of artifacts, charts, maps, flags, models and uniforms from all periods and nationalities of aviation history. Outside the building are a number of aircraft on display spanning the period from the Korean War through the skirmishes of the nineteen eighties. I love visiting this place and so does my young son and I have every intention of returning. The one caution I would offer to the group that visits is to be sure that your younger more active members lower their voices and restrain their energy, as some of the older docents (much like my grandfather actually), can be a touch prickly. Hey their vets so I’ll extend that deference. Otherwise this is always a fun stop and I will continue to bring my students until they bar the door.
Tags: American Freedom, Aviation History, Aviation Museum, Brook Hill, Daytrip, Eighties, Foretaste, Freedom Museum, Hall Of Presidents, Hamburgers, Historical Aviation, Korean War, Nationalities, Private School, Purgatory, School Year, Skirmishes, Summer Getaway, Town Guests, Tyler Texas, Worth The Wait
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January 30th, 2011
When in Tyler you now have a couple more burger places to try out. Jucy’s opened a new more modern looking facility and sells the same good burgers but frozen chicken fingers and milk shakes made from soft serve icecream. Now Smashburger on the other hand has even better hamburgers, really good fries, and their shakes are made with Hagen Daaz icecream.
If I could pick each time for lunch when I am in a hamburger mood where I should go it would be Smashburger everytime.
Why do more local chains like Jucy’s have to resort to buying cheap Sysco foods tasting frozen chicken strips and making shakes out of stuff they give you for free at chinese buffets?
Smashburger offers the quality, consistency, and food choices I demand in a good hamburger place in Tyler TX. It is going to be very hard to out do them.
Tags: Burgers, Chains, Chicken Fingers, Chicken Strips, Chinese Buffets, Food Choices, Fries, Frozen Chicken, Hagen Daaz, Hamburger Place, Hamburgers, Icecream, Jucy, Lunch, Quality Consistency, Smashburger, Sysco, Sysco Foods, Tyler Texas, Tyler TX
Posted in American Food, Restaurants | No Comments »
September 24th, 2010
If you are looking for some good family fun that does not include a man dressed up in a giant mouse, or sitting in a dark room glued to a giant television screen, I recommend spending the day at Tyler State Park.
At Tyler State Park there is so much to do for the whole family. If you love to spend time on the water, here you can rent a canoe, or paddle boat, or bring your own. The park has an area that you can swim. Usually the beach area and swimming area are pretty crowded. The swimming area is roped off but it is easy to get to the rest of the lake, so you have to watch your kids closely while they are swimming. If you enjoy biking and walking, Tyler State Park is known for their great mountain bike trails. Some of the trails are pretty hard to ride and some trails are much easier. The walking trails are great for family hikes. It is great to have a place that is fun to take family walks and enjoy the out doors.
On a nice cool night there really is not anything that compares to sitting under the stars and around a warm camp fire. Tyler State Park has some really nice camp sites that include camp fire pits and grills so you can cook hamburgers or hotdogs. The camp sites are either shelter, areas where you can park your RV, or areas where you can put up a tent. The sheltered area is basically an empty building with screen windows, and cement floors.
At the park there are all different animals. The last time I was out at one of their camp grounds we were visited by a very curious fat raccoon. It was pretty scary that the raccoon would not run away after people chasing it away and throwing things at it to get it to get off our camping area. It is against park rules to kill the park animals. The raccoon was use to people and was really well fed. I recommend that you keep your trash bags off the ground while you are sleeping or away from your camp grounds, or else animals like raccoons will get into your trash and make a huge mess that you are responsible for.
So instead of putting your kids in front of the television, enjoy time with them playing on the playgrounds, camping, cooking marshmallows over the fire, or having a picnic at Tyler State Park.
Tags: Camp Fire Pits, Camp Grounds, Camping Area, Cement Floors, Cool Night, Family Fun, Giant Mouse, Giant Television Screen, Grills, Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Mountain Bike Trails, Paddle Boat, Park Animals, Raccoon, Raccoons, Screen Windows, Texas State Parks, Trash Bags, Tyler State Park, Tyler Texas State Park, Tyler TX State Park, Walking Trails
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February 10th, 2010
POSADOS CAFÉ LINDALE
3201 S Main Street
Lindale
TX 75771
903 881 0493
Posados is one of Lindale’s most popular eateries. It is an American-style Mexican restaurant serving fajitas, tacos, burritos, enchiladas and some seafood, ribs and steak too. They also have hamburgers, chicken and even grilled cheese sandwiches, for those fussy children that might be dining with you!
The things I love about Posados – the food is good and not expensive. My favorite is the chicken fajitas and I love the tortilla soup that comes with it (if you want, you can choose beans as a side dish instead) plus the sizzling platter of chicken and vegetables with a side of guacamole, sour cream and salad. I rarely have room to eat it all – but that could be because I find it hard to resist scoffing lots of the complimentary fresh tortilla chips and salsa that keeps being refilled! Another bonus – the margaritas. Posados is licensed so you can have a drink with your meal and the fruit flavored margaritas are very good – especially on a hot day. Actually, there is even a bar at Posados where you can sit and drink and munch on some chips ‘n salsa chatting to friends or watching a game without having to order a meal. It is not in the slightest bit seedy.
For children – the never ending supply of chips is great, plus the coloring provided on the kids menu, and the sopapilla dessert and ice cream for treats after the meal. I dread to think what is in that ice-cream though, it’s probably full of additives and sugar and … well I mustn’t think about it as I know my kids expect an ice-cream if we eat there!
I like the atmosphere and lighting in the restaurant but I also enjoy eating outdoors and Posados does have a small covered patio area. Posados is often a bit cold for my liking so we nearly always eat outside in the warmer months. I wish the outdoor seating was round the back of the building and more open though, perhaps overlooking a little Mexican garden?!
Things I don’t like about Posados – it s always busy! Of course that is a result of it’s popularity but it does mean that you will have to wait to be seated at busy periods and we have been there when the ice-cream machine ran out and the staff were too busy to refill it (disaster for the children!) Personally I don’t think much of their tortillas – at Posados they take pride in the fact that they are made on site and the kids like to watch them being pressed by the big machine– but I find them flabby and rather greasy. Otherwise, the food is good quality.
Posados has a lighter lunch menu and will also cater your event. Gift cards are available – they are twinned with Mercados and there is a rewards card points scheme which gives you reductions from your check. It is easy to see why many Lindalites chose to dine at Posados.
Tags: Additives, Chicken Fajitas, Chips And Salsa, Covered Patio, Eateries, Enchiladas, Fussy Children, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Hamburgers, Hot Day, Kids Menu, Lindale Texas, Lindale Tx, Patio Area, Posados, Side Dish, Sizzling Platter, Sour Cream, Tacos, Tortilla Chips, Tortilla Soup
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January 19th, 2010
Maggie’s Hamburger Restaurant is located west of Tyler on Rt 64. It is a log cabin with a nice sized inside dining room and during the summer they have a covered patio porch connected to the cabin that has as much room outside as the inside dining.
Maggie’s restaurant has some of the best and big hamburgers I have ever eaten….but that is not all the menu they serve. There was chicken and seafood offered.. They have specials listed on a chalk board type listing next to the window you order from. In the middle of the dining room there was a buffet of fixin’s for your meal. The tables and chairs inside were wooden with wooden benches and the interior of the cabin was open to show the rafters in the ceiling. The staff that waited on you were very congenial and made your eating experience enjoyable.
So the next time you have a hunger for a good hamburger…..why don’t you try Maggie’s and you will be pleased with the food, service and decent price.
Tags: Chalk Board, Decent Price, Dining Room, Fixin, Food Service, Hamburger Restaurant, Hamburgers, Hunger, Log Cabin, Maggie, Maggies Hamburgers, Patio Porch, Rafters, Rt, Tables And Chairs, Tyler TX Hamburgers, Tyler TX Restaurants, Wooden Benches
Posted in American Food | No Comments »
